Social cognition
2008
Understanding Social Cognition
publication
Evidence: moderate
Author Information
Author(s): Chris D. Frith
Primary Institution: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London
Hypothesis
Are there aspects of cognition that are specifically social and specifically human?
Conclusion
Social cognition involves various psychological processes that help individuals learn from social signals, which are crucial for navigating social environments.
Supporting Evidence
- Infants learn to fear a stimulus by observing another's fearful response.
- Social referencing helps infants determine whether to approach or avoid novel objects based on their mother's expressions.
- Mirror neurons activate both when we perform an action and when we observe someone else performing the same action.
Takeaway
Social cognition is how we understand and learn from others around us, like when babies look at their mom's face to decide if something is safe or scary.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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